Bean-sorter.



O. W. CARTER.

BEAN Somme; APPLIOATION FILED MAY 6,1912.

Patented July 30, 1912.

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O. W. CARTER.

BEAN SORTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1912.

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G. W. CARTER.

BEAN SORTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1912.

Patented July 30, 19.12.

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CLARENCE W. CARTER, 0F MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

BEAN-SORTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 6, 1912. Serial No. 695,338.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known. that I, CLARENCE W. CARTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bean- Sorters; and I' do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object to provide an extremely simple and highly efficient sorting machine, and to such ends, generally stated, the invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described and defined in the claims.-

Hitherto, in machines for use in sorting beans, peas, coffee, and the like, it has been the common practice to use endless sorting belts having perforations with. yielding bottoms adapting the discolored, shriveled, or otherwise defective beans, or mem bers to be sorted by pushing them through the perforations of the belt.

My invention accomplishes the picking or sorting of the beans, or other articles, in a very different, and as I believe, a very much better way, and it consists in the 'use of traveling carrier which is provided with a plurality of gravity-arighted cups adapted, when forced through a body of beans, for example, each to pick up a single bean. The defective beans are dislodged from the cups which hold them, by striking the cup or the bean with the finger or other small article held in the fingers. This operation, of course, is a selective one, that is, requires the operator standing at the machine, to observe and then select and strike off the defective from the good beans, carried by the multiplicity of cups of the carrier. The defective beans thus dislodged from the cups will, by suitable means, be delivered to one place, while the good beans carrled onward by the cups, are substantially dislodged automatically and delivered to another place. The carrier for the gravity-arighted cups may take various forms, but should be some form of endless carrier such as a wheel or endless chain.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views,

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in side elevation with some parts broken away, showing one form of the machine; Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view in elevation showing one side of the carrier wheel; Fig. 4: is a detail in section on the line w 00* on Fig. 2;"Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail in section on the linear x on Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is an enlarged transverse section taken through the machine approxnnatelv on the line w m on Fig. 2; Fig. 7 is a view partly inside ele-' vation and partly in section illustrating a,

modified form of the machine; and Fig. 8 is a transverse section taken on the line m a on Fig. 7 some parts being broken away.

In the further description of the machine and its operation, it will be treated as a bean sorter, although it will, of course, be understood that it is adapted for the various other uses indicated and for other similar uses.

The machine illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, will first be described. The beans are placed within the suitable containing adjacent side of the hopper 1 and provided at its outer end with a large spur gear 10. The spur gear 10, as shown, meshes with another spur pinion 11 secured to another stub shaft 12 journaled in the same side of the hopper. This stub shaft 12 is provided with a driving pulley 13 and a small eccentric 1 1, the purpose of which latter will presently appear. The peripheral portions of the wheel disks 3 and 4 carry a circumferentially spaced series of transverse rods 15, on each of which rods is a plurality of independently pivoted gravity-arighted cups 16. These cups are loosely pivoted on the rods 15 and are spaced apart by short thimbles 17. The upper ends of the so-called cups Patented July 30, 1912.

The shaft 5, just outside of the side 16 are concave or dished out at 16, so as 16 should be of the proper siZe to receive one kernel of the same. This substitution of pockets of different size may be easily made or, of course, different machines may be used for the different purposes. The lower ends of the cups 16 are much heavier than the upper ends, so that they will be held in vertical positions throughout the rotation of the wheel or endless carrier, except while they are being forced through the body of the beans in the hopper, when, of course, their heavy ends will turn backward in respect to the direction of the rotation of the wheel. The wheel is divided into a multiplicity of laterally inclined discharge spouts, by radial partition plates 18 and inclined bottom plates 19, and these spouts deliver each to one of a series of discharge passages 20, formed in the wheel disk 4 immediately surrounding its hub. All of these discharge passages 20 deliver into a fixed discharge spout 21, shown as supported by and formed as a part of the adjacent side plate of the hopper 1. The wheel is intended to rotate in the direction of the arrow marked adjacent thereto on Fig. 1. W-Vhen the cups 16 are forced through the body of the beans contained in the hopper, they will emerge, each containing one bean, and while the wheel is moving slowly in the direction stated, the operator with his finger, dislodges all of the discolored or defective beans from their cups and these fall into the discharge spouts 18-19 of the said wheel and will be delivered through the passages 20 and into the spout 21 from which they may be caught by any suitable receptacle. The good beans are left in their respective cups and they will travel onward and downward until they are brought to a position overlying the upper end of a wide discharge spout 22 formed at the delivery end of the hopper 1, and into which discharge spout, the good beans are delivered, preferably by an automatic discharger. This discharger, as shown, comprises a wide blade 23 located in the discharge spout 22 and secured to a rock shaft 24:, the shaft of which latter projects at one end and has a rigidly secured arm 25. This arm 25 is connected to one endof a crank rod 26, the other end of which works on the eccentric 14: of the shaft 12. The free upper edge of the blade 23 stands in such position that when oscillated inward, it will simultaneously engage the lower ends of the one series of cups, and simultaneously dislodge the good beans carried thereby, and cause the same to be discharged into the spout 22 from which they may be caught by any suitable receptacle. The timing of the eccentric 14 is such, in respect to the speed of rotation of the cup carrying wheel, that each successive series of cups will be engaged and tilted into discharging positions, thus, making the discharge of the good beans automatically. The hopper 1, as shown, is also provided with a laterally extended receiving spout 27, through which beans may be poured into the hopper.

In the form of the machine illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, the hopper 1 is an opentopped elongated structure having a dis charge spout 22 for the good beans and provided with laterally inclined discharge spout 21* for the defective beans. The endless cup carrier in this modified machine, is aii'orded. by a pair of laterally spaced sprocket chains 28 arranged to run over sprockets 29 and 30, carried by shafts 31 and 32, suitably journaled in the sides of the hopper 1 and one of the shafts being driven by means, not shown. Certain of the links of the chains 28 are provided with outwardly projecting arms 35 which carry the transverse rods 15 on which the gravityarighted cups 16 are pivoted. In this arrangement the defective beans are dislodged while they are moving on their upper run of the chains and they will fall into the underlying discharge spout 21 and be delivered out through one side of the hopper 1 The good beans, passing onward will be automatically discharged into the spout 22 by engagement of the lower ends of the cups 16 with a. fixed tripping flange 3i formed or secured within the hopper just above the said spout 22 and extended transversely from one side to the other of the said hopper.

In practice, it has been found that the defective beans may, by this improved sorter, be very rapidly dislodged and separated from the good beans. A mere tap or light touch of the finger either on the defective bean or the cup which carries it, will dislodge the same, and this makes a rapid or sorting action possible.

The construction in Figs. 7 and S has several important advantages over that disclosed in the other views. The most important advantage is found in the fact that arms 33 which project from the chain links and carry the gravity arighted cups, as they pass around the lower portion of the large sprocket 29, at which time, the cups are moved through the beans in the hopper, are spread apart, so that several series of cups are more widely separated while filling. This gives the cups a much better chance to properly fill or individually take up each bean. When, however, the filled cups are moved along the upper run of the chains, they are again closely brought together so that they may be more conveniently engaged for the purpose of dislodging the defective beans from t-he'cups which contain them. By thus reducing the distance between the several series of filled cups, less movement oi the finger is required to do a given amount of work and more filled bean cups are brought. into view and within reach of the operator at one time, or for that matter,

all the time that the machine is in operation.

What I claim is:

1. In a sorting machine, the combination with a hopper and a carrier, of a plurality of pivoted cups on said carrier movable thereby through the bodyof beans or other material contained in said hopper, and adapted each to pick up one member thereof.

2. In a sorting machine, the combination with a hopper, of a carrier movable therein and provided with a plurality of pivotally mounted, gravityarighted cups having pockets in their upper ends adapted to be moved through the body of beans or other material contained in said hopper, and each to pick up one thereof.

3. In a sorting machine, the combination with a hopper having two discharge spouts, of an endless carrier provided with a plurality of series of pivoted gravity-arighted cups, movable through the body of beans or other material contained in said hopper and adapted each to pick up one member thereof, the defective beans or articles being adapted to be discharged into one, andthe good beans or articles into the other of the discharge spouts of said hopper.

4;. In a sorting machine, the combination with a hopper, of an endless carrier provided with a multiplicity of transverse rods spaced in the direction of travel of said carrler, and gravity-arighted cups intermediately pivoted on said rods and provided in their upper ends with pockets, each adapted to receive one member of the material to be sorted, substantially as described.

5. In a sorting machine, the combination with a hopper, of an endless carrier having a plurality of transverse rods spaced in the direction of the travel of said carrier, and gravity-arighted cups intermediately pivoted on said rods and provided in their upper ends with pockets, each adapted to receive one member of the material to be sorted, the 'dislodgment of the defective members from said cups being eflected by a selective finger action, means for driving said carrier in a constant direction, and means automatically engageable with the several series of cups in succession, to dislodge the good articles therefrom, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CLARENCE W. CARTER.

Witnesses:

F. D. MERCHANT, HARRY D. KILGORE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

